4 more official visitors, and Chris Holtmann's race to assemble the 2018 class: Ohio State basketball recruiting

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Some thoughts on Ohio State basketball recruiting, and notes on four more official visitors this week.

By Bill Landis, cleveland.com

• New Ohio State basketball coach Chris Holtmann would like to have some, if not all, of his 2018 recruiting class committed before the early signing period in November. The Buckeyes can't go into the wide gap between November and the regular signing period in April without at least a couple of pieces in that group solidified.

That would be a bad sign, and make the race to assemble this class even more chaotic than it's already been. The well usually dries up significantly after November, and Ohio State doesn't want to be stuck hunting the graduate transfer market to piece together a foundational class.

• But that's a future worry. There's still time to get players on campus and lock down some prospects that have long been at the top of Holtmann's wish list, some dating back to his time at Butler.

Some of those players were on campus last week, with Ohio State hosting four-star prospects Elijah Weaver, Luther Muhammad and Jaedon LeDee on official visits. Consider Weaver and Muhammad the Buckeyes' top two targets at guard, and last weekend's visits seem to have gone well for both. LeDee, a forward, is more of a long shot at this point, but someone to keep in mind.

No doubt the relationships Holtmann's staff started with Weaver and Muhammad at Butler are helping. Weaver was the first player in 2018 to receive a scholarship offer from the new Ohio State coaching staff.

It's seemingly down to Ohio State and Florida for Weaver, who is scheduled to visit the Gators this weekend. He also has an official visit scheduled with Oklahoma State on Sept. 22. A decision could come by the end of the month. Ohio State is currently the leader in the 247Sports crystal ball for the No. 36 prospect in the country.

Muhammad, the No. 83 player in the class, still has official visits set with Xavier and West Virginia, and St. John's continues to push for the New Jersey product. The Buckeyes may still be trailing behind St. John's at this point.

• Holtmann is also scheduled for an in-home visit with three-star Ohio wing Justin Ahrens. The former Ohio State commit, who re-opened his recruitment after Thad Matta was fired, is also set for an official visit to campus next weekend. Ahrens is likely Holtmann's last shot to land an Ohio prospect in this class.

Ahrens is the No. 7 player in the state, which boasts a talented crop of 2018 prospects. Five of the top six are committed elsewhere: Darius Bazley (Syracuse), Jerome Hunter (Indiana), Pete Nance (Northwestern), Dwayne Cohill (Dayton) and Dane Goodwin (Notre Dame) are all off the board for Ohio State. The No. 4 player -- four-star Cincinnati Moeller forward Jaxson Hayes -- has an Ohio State offer, and is someone the Buckeyes would like to add. But he has visits set with Texas and Xavier, and has yet to schedule one with Ohio State.